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20140911

- Their Somali captors ‘abused the captured Afrikaner Christian woman while the couple were held captive from Oct 26 2010 to June 21 2012

Nothing illustrates the ANC-regime’s lack of compassion towards its 3,4-million Afrikaner citizens better than the uncaring way in which they treated Somali captives Debbie Maritz and Bruno Pelizzari – showing no concern for their well-being during their captivity; refusing the prosecute the Somali pirates when they were captured by the Dutch Navy – and ignoring the couple’s traumatic plight thereafter…

September 22 2014 - by Adriana Stuijt a.j.stuijt@knid.nl " The lack of compassion with which this white couple was treated by the ANC-regime after their 20-month ordeal at the hands of Somali pirates, is indescribable. They were simply expected to 'get on with their lives' - even though they are poor. The couple did not even get sufficient trauma-treatment from their 'government' nor did they receive any financial compensation for their ordeal.

The couple have since split up, undoubtedly from the stress: as ‘whites’ they have to somehow survive in a country where 'whites' like them aren't even allowed to hold down fulltime jobs - by law. Debbie Maritz has been particularly traumatized: she told the Afrikaans news media that she was raped repeatedly by her captors and that they never gave her anything to wear except the swimsuit she was captured in. They treated this kind-hearted Christian Afrikaner woman with contempt. The Afrikaans woman reportedly now is in dire straights, trying to survive on the tough streets of Boksburg, unable to forget the terror of her ordeal.

Yet when the Dutch marines moved in and rescued Peter Eldridge - the Richard's Bay-based owner/skipper who had lodged himself in a tight corner of tchained himself to the yacht, determined not to get captured, the impoverished couple were worked for him as the crew were marched off at gunpoint during the firefight. Now that five of the Somalis, captured during the firefight, have been convicted and sentenced ten years in a Dutch prison, shouldn’t the Dutch government also be held partially responsible to try and get the couple – but especially Debbie – back on their feet?

Then there's the South African regime - which has refused to prosecute the five captured Somali pirates after the Dutch Navy had offered to turn the pirates over to the South African authorities. That’s not surprising: the ANC regime also openly refuses to help any Afrikaner even when they are slowly starving to death in little squatter camps. At least one-third of the Afrikaner nation of 3,4million people are suffering severe poverty, according to Solidarity Helping Hand charity, which is struggling to keep these families alive.

These 'whites' are not allowed to work, not allowed to own land, must hand over any meagre profits of businesses they may be running to “ANC-cadre partners”, the Afrikaners are not allowed to even educate their own children in their home language of Afrikaans... Nothing highlights the lack of concern shown towards the Afrikaners by the ANC regime better than their horrendous neglect of the badly traumatized Debbie Maritz after she and Bruno were rescued by Somali military forces.

The South African regime couldn't even be bothered to negotiate for this impoverished Afrikaner couple's release.

I call on the international community to please help Debbie Maritz and Bruno Pellizari. Debbie is a badly traumatized woman whose ordeal was described far too briefly to the international community: after they had made their money out of the dramatic story of their release... everybody just ignored her, including her own government…

April 4, 2011 Mike Corder THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Dutch marines killed two pirates and captured 16 others during an operation to free a hijacked Iranian fishing boat off the coast of Somalia, the Defense Ministry said Monday. The deadly firefight marked the first time Dutch forces have killed suspected pirates while patrolling the Gulf of Aden as part of an international anti-piracy flotilla. Marines from the frigate HMS Tromp opened fire on the pirates on the hijacked Iranian boat Sunday after they shot at two Dutch inflatable speedboats sent to investigate the fishing vessel, the ministry said. Ten suspected pirates were captured as they tried to flee in a high-speed skiff and six more were detained on the fishing boat. The bodies of two suspected pirates killed in the firefight also were recovered on the vessel. Dutch Defence Ministry spokeswoman Marloes Visser said the pirates, some of whom were wounded in the shooting, were being questioned on board the Tromp. The injured were receiving medical treatment, but it was unclear if the captives would be taken anywhere for trial. "It is not yet clear what will happen next. Prosecutors will have to decide," Visser told The Associated Press. Wim de Bruin of the national prosecutor's office said Monday he had no information on the case. Even as Dutch marines searched the Iranian dhow, another group of pirates approached, apparently intent on hijacking the boat, the Defense Ministry statement said. The crew of the Tromp fired warning shots to force the second group of pirates to flee. The dhow and its crew were allowed to sail away from the scene of the attacks after the Dutch intervention.After years of tentative action against pirates, the international armada sent to protect shipping in the gulf has become more assertive and willing to prosecute captured hijackers rather than let them go. Last month, the Indian navy attacked in self-defense a fishing boat, which had been used by pirates as a mothership. Sixty-one pirates were captured and were taken to Mumbai, India's financial capital, to be prosecuted. And in 2009, U.S. Navy SEAL sharpshooters killed three pirates who were holding the American captain of the Maersk Alabama ship. Last year, five Somalis were convicted of attacking a Dutch Antilles-flagged cargo ship with automatic weapons and a rocket-propelled grenade, in the first piracy case to come to trial in Europe in modern times. They are serving five-year prison sentences in a Dutch jail,

Five of 11 pirates who captured South Africans Debbie Maritz and Bruno Pellizzari were arrested by the Dutch Navy: however, the ANC regime refused to prosecute them in South Africa so the Dutch put them on trial in Rotterdam, The Netherlands:

Five more Somali men suspected of hijacking a South African yacht last year (and captured a South African couple during a firefight) also awaiting trial in a jail in the Netherlands. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700124190/Dutch-marines-kill-2-pirates-off-Somali-coast.html======================= Bruno Pelizzari and Deborah Calitz release pending: October 20 1011: "To SA yacht crew members said to be 'safe in Mogadishu after misunderstanding with Somali pirates with a religious agenda'. The two Afrikaner Christians were captured from the yacht Choizil since October 26 2010.The couple's capture was described by Peter Eldridge, skipper of the yacht, testifying to Dutch police.Jan 10 2011 - Peter Eldridge, skipper of the yacht Choizil, has described his ordeal at the hands of Somali pirates who seized his yacht and kidnapped his crewmates, Bruno Pelizzari and Deborah Calitz, to Dutch police and court officials. It has also been reported that the captured Durban couple, after a ‘misunderstanding with Somali pirates with a religious agenda’ , are said to be ‘safe’ in Mogadishu.The couple have no money. The skipper managed to escape with the help of Dutch Marines when his yacht was seized by Somali pirates but they dragged away his two hapless crewmates: two empoverished Afrikaners who had hitched a ride with him to get back to South Africa. Brono Pelizzari and Debarah Calitz were dressed only in their swim suits when they were captured.Pelizzari’s sister Vera said last night they had learned of the sentencing on Friday, but it did not change the fact that her brother and Deborah were still being held captive after nine months. Tanya Waterworth writes in the Cape Argus that the families issued the plea to the pirates holding them, al-Shabaab and All Somalia to "show humanity – release our family from this emotional famine that has been imposed on us.”

The desperate plea will be circulated in the Somali media on Monday. In the emotional plea for their return, Pelizzari highlighted the work being done by South Africa’s Gift of the Givers charity in the famine-stricken city of Mogadishu and its immediate surrounds.

“Every night we have heard on the news how South Africa, through the Gift of the Givers and the generosity of many South Africans, are assisting Somalia in its famine crisis and saving countless lives.

“These two South Africans are people of Africa and innocent of any offence to their brothers and sisters of Somalia.

“We ask the pirates holding them, al-Shabaab and all Somalia to show humanity – release our family from this emotional famine that has been imposed on us,” they said in their the plea. Deborah Calitz’s daughter, Kerri, said the families were hoping the media plea would help get her mother freed.

South African authorities refused to prosecute the five Somali pirates after their capture by the Dutch Navy:

Five of the twelve pirates were tried after they were captured by the Dutch navy. The South African authorities refused to prosecute them after the the Dutch navy rescued the South African skipper and his yacht and towed it to Richard's Bay harbour. The captain of the yacht, Peter Eldridge, submitted testimony to the Dutch authorities and the law courts about the cruel circumstances in which he and his two crew-members were attacked. Eldridge refused to leave his yacht and was rescued by the Dutch navy. The Dutch captured five of the pirates but others managed to drag away the two Afrikaner crew-members, Bruno Pelizzari and his life-partner Deborah Calitz. They have been in captivity ever since October 26, 2010, 'somewhere in Mogadishu'. In January this year, Peter Eldridge, skipper of the yacht Choizil, returned to South Africa after described his ordeal at the hands of Somali pirates to Dutch police and court officials.

It has also been reported that the captured Durban couple, both Christians, were nearly killed shortly after their capture - due to 'a ‘misunderstanding with Somali pirates with a religious agenda’ but that they were said to be ‘safe’ in Mogadishu since that time.

The South African authorities claim that they are 'negotiating for their release". The couple have no money for ransom and neither do their family. The most important thing now is to get Bruno and Debbie back safely,’ said SA yachtsman Peter Eldridge after testifying at the trial of five captured Somali pirates in The Netherlands, which led to their imprisonment on August 12 2011 in Rotterdam.He positively identified the accused men as being among the armed pirates who had hijacked the Choizil. “I then went before the magistrate and said virtually the same things, and was then asked questions by the lawyers.” He said that giving evidence there and knowing that some of the men had been arrested had not helped him in dealing with the trauma of the incident. “It is probably something I will never get over… The most important thing now is to get Bruno and Debbie back safely,” he said at the time. - The Mercury http://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/skipper-describes-hijacking-to-cops-1.1009939

South African international relations spokesman Saul Kgomotso Molobi: “kidnappers made no contact with South African government…’ (which has an embassy in Mogadishu).

According to Sail World’s purportedly 'well-placed source' in February this year a man named Andrew Mwangura in Kenya, and whose links with the piracy-industry in Somalia have in the past were said to be ‘extremely accurate’, the abducted couple Bruno Pelizzari and Debbie Calitz were moved to Mogadishu after their capture.

South African International Relations spokesman Saul Kgomotso Molobi said on 12 August 2011 that ‘the kidnappers had not made contact with the South African government nor with the relatives of Bruno Pelizzari and his partner, Deborah Calitz. 'They have not sent any ransom demands so we don't know what they want,' he said. However, Molobi said hope for the couple's safe return has not faded, as pirates sometimes took a long time to make ransom demands. 'We believe they are alive. “

HOW WERE THE PIRATES CAPTURED? The pirates were tried in Rotterdam the Netherlands after they were captured by the Dutch navy.

The South African authorities refused to prosecute them after the the Dutch navy rescued the South African skipper and his yacht and towed it to Richard's Bay harbour. The captain of the yacht, Peter Eldridge, submitted testimony to the Dutch authorities and the law courts about the cruel circumstances in which he and his two crew-members were attacked. Eldridge (tied himself to the ship) and refused to leave his yacht and was rescued by the Dutch navy.

The Dutch captured five of the pirates but others managed to drag away the two Afrikaner crew-members, Bruno Pelizzari and his life-partner Deborah Calitz. They have been in captivity ever since October 26, 2010, 'somewhere in Mogadishu'.

In January 2012, Peter Eldridge, skipper of the yacht Choizil, returned to South Africa after describing his ordeal at the hands of Somali pirates to Dutch police and court officials (in Rotterdam).

It has also been reported that the captured Durban couple, both Christians, were nearly killed shortly after their capture - due to 'a ‘misunderstanding with Somali pirates with a religious agenda’ but that they were said to be ‘safe’ in Mogadishu since that time. The South African authorities claim that they are 'negotiating for their release".

The couple have no money for ransom and neither do their family. All the presents that Bruno and Debbie had bought for family back home and their money were found. When they came back we repeatedly told them we didn’t have any money and that we were South African,' he said. The pirates stayed on the yacht while a mother ship carrying drums of fuel delivered food and tea to them.

The three South Africans were used as human shields by the muslims:

On November 7, the pirates holding Eldridge and the couple hostage on the yacht, spotted a French warship on the horizon. 'There were two boats. One was from Amsterdam. Their helicopters were hovering overhead. The pirates then began firing at the warship with their AK47s and launched rockets.' Eldridge was told to contact the French vessel. Eldridge was able to inform them over the radio that there were eight pirates on board. 'Afterwards, the pirates made us sit on the side of the yacht, facing the warship. They had guns to our heads,' he said.

The pirates motored the yacht until the motor seized and it ran aground on the Somali coast. The couple were forced ashore but Eldridge refused to leave. 'One of the pirates came back,' he said. 'He ripped the microphone from the radio and started beating me. I refused to go. I lodged myself so he couldn’t pull me out. He then discharged his weapon. I was uninjured. He then left.' Eldridge made contact with the warship again and was rescued. At time of writing, no contact has been established with the kidnapping pirates, and no ransom demand has so far been made. Plettenberg Bay/Sail-World Cruising http://www.sail-world.com/Cruising/international/I-would-have-gone-down-with-my-yacht.-Pirate-sailor-victim-tells/76978---------- Richards Bay yachtsman Peter Eldridge, owner of the yacht Choizil, was exhausted after returning from the Netherlands, where he was interviewed by police and court officials on his hijacking by Somali pirates near Tanzania on Oct 26 2010, reported Bronwyn Gerretsen. Mr Eldridge’s yacht was pirated on the high seas near Tanzania by AK47-wielding pirates on October 26. He, along with his crew, Durban couple Bruno Pelizzari and Deborah Calitz, were held hostage for 13 days before the yacht was run aground. Eldridge was left on the yacht after he refused to disembark, but Pelizzari and Ms Calitz were taken hostage. Five Somali pirates – among those who hijacked Eldridge – were arrested by the anti-piracy task force and put on trial in the Netherlands law courts.

Eldridge was returned to Richard’s Bay by a Dutch warship after his ordeal, and last week was flown to the Netherlands to testify. He was first interviewed by Dutch police, to whom he related details of the incident.

“The most important thing now is to get Bruno and Debbie back safely,’ said SA yachtsman Peter Eldridge after testifying at the trial of five captured Somali pirates in The Netherlands, which led to their imprisonment on August 12 2011 in Rotterdam.

He positively identified the accused men as being among the armed pirates who had hijacked the Choizil. “I then went before the magistrate and said virtually the same things, and was then asked questions by the lawyers.”

He said that giving evidence there and knowing that some of the men had been arrested had not helped him in dealing with the trauma of the incident.

South African International Relations spokesman Saul Kgomotso Molobi said yesterday that ‘the kidnappers had not made contact with the South African government nor with the relatives of Bruno Pelizzari and his partner, Deborah Calitz. 'They have not sent any ransom demands so we don't know what they want,' he said. However, Molobi said hope for the couple's safe return has not faded, as pirates sometimes took a long time to make ransom demands. 'We believe they are alive. South Africa has not interfered with Somalia by sending military to that country, so we are taking this as a good sign that hostages from South Africa will not be harmed. In one incident, pirates made a ransom demand four weeks after the kidnapping so there's no reason to lose hope.' http://www.sail-world.com/Cruising/international/Hope--for-kidnapped-South-African-cruising-sailors/77547- Eldridge’s account of couple’s capture:

In a blow by blow account of the traumatic hijacking off the Tanzanian coast on October 26, Peter Eldridge, 61, explained that he was prepared to sink his yacht, SY Choizil, if the pirates made it their 'mother ship' to rob other vessels. 'I had made peace that … if they were going to go ahead with their plan to make it their mother ship, I was prepared to sink with my yacht and the pirates,' he said. Eldridge refused to leave his yacht when the pirates took his crew hostage on November 7 2011. Eldridge, an experienced yachtsman, had lived on his yacht on the coast of Dar-es- Salaam for several years. 'I decided to sail to Richards Bay in November because it was a good time to sail. I approached Bruno and Debbie to be my crew and they agreed because this would allow them to visit their families back home,' Eldridge said at the Zululand Yacht Club. He said the issue of piracy was fully discussed in Dar-es-Salaam with the couple before they set sail in October. 'We believed that in the likely event of being attacked, we would be robbed and then the pirates would leave us,' he said.

On October 26, 160km from the Tanzanian coast, two motorboats pulled up on either side of the yacht. He was quickly able to send out a mayday signal. Twelve pirates, armed with AK47 guns and RPG rockets, boarded the yacht. 'Communication was poor but they demanded the satellite radio and any cellphones we had. They disconnected the fixed radio and removed it.' The three were held at gunpoint while the vessel was searched.

'All the presents that Bruno and Debbie had bought for family back home and their money were found. When they came back we repeatedly told them we didn’t have any money and that we were South African,' he said. The pirates stayed on the yacht while a mother-ship carrying drums of fuel delivered food and tea to them. On November 7, the pirates spotted a French warship on the horizon. 'There were two boats. One was from Amsterdam. Their helicopters were hovering overhead. The pirates then began firing at the warship with their AK47s and launched rockets.'

- Their Somali captives ‘abused the captured Afrikaner Christian woman while the couple were held captive from Oct 26 2010 to June 21 2012

Nothing illustrates the ANC-regime’s lack of compassion towards its 3,4-million Afrikaner citizens better than the uncaring way in which they treated Somali captives Debbie Maritz and Bruno Pelizzari – showing no concern for their well-being during their captivity; refusing the prosecute the Somali pirates when they were captured by the Dutch Navy – and ignoring the couple’s traumatic plight thereafter…

September 22 2014 - by Adriana Stuijt a.j.stuijt@knid.nl " The lack of compassion with which this white couple was treated by the ANC-regime after their 20-month ordeal at the hands of Somali pirates, is indescribable. They were simply expected to 'get on with their lives' - even though they are poor. The couple did not even get sufficient trauma-treatment from their 'government' nor did they receive any financial compensation for their ordeal.

The couple have since split up, undoubtedly from the stress: as ‘whites’ they have to somehow survive in a country where 'whites' like them aren't even allowed to hold down fulltime jobs - by law. Debbie Maritz has been particularly traumatized: she told the Afrikaans news media that she was raped repeatedly by her captors and that they never gave her anything to wear except the swimsuit she was captured in. They treated this kind-hearted Christian Afrikaner woman with contempt. The Afrikaans woman reportedly now is in dire straights, trying to survive on the tough streets of Boksburg, unable to forget the terror of her ordeal.

Yet when the Dutch marines moved in and rescued Peter Eldridge - the Richard's Bay-based owner/skipper who had lodged himself in a tight corner of tchained himself to the yacht, determined not to get captured, the impoverished couple were worked for him as the crew were marched off at gunpoint during the firefight. Now that five of the Somalis, captured during the firefight, have been convicted and sentenced ten years in a Dutch prison, shouldn’t the Dutch government also be held partially responsible to try and get the couple – but especially Debbie – back on their feet?

Then there's the South African regime - which has refused to prosecute the five captured Somali pirates after the Dutch Navy had offered to turn the pirates over to the South African authorities. That’s not surprising: the ANC regime also openly refuses to help any Afrikaner even when they are slowly starving to death in little squatter camps. At least one-third of the Afrikaner nation of 3,4million people are suffering severe poverty, according to Solidarity Helping Hand charity, which is struggling to keep these families alive.

These 'whites' are not allowed to work, not allowed to own land, must hand over any meagre profits of businesses they may be running to “ANC-cadre partners”, the Afrikaners are not allowed to even educate their own children in their home language of Afrikaans... Nothing highlights the lack of concern shown towards the Afrikaners by the ANC regime better than their horrendous neglect of the badly traumatized Debbie Maritz after she and Bruno were rescued by Somali military forces.

The South African regime couldn't even be bothered to negotiate for this impoverished Afrikaner couple's release.

I call on the international community to please help Debbie Maritz and Bruno Pellizari. Debbie is a badly traumatized woman whose ordeal was described far too briefly to the international community: after they had made their money out of the dramatic story of their release... everybody just ignored her, including her own government…

April 4, 2011 Mike Corder THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Dutch marines killed two pirates and captured 16 others during an operation to free a hijacked Iranian fishing boat off the coast of Somalia, the Defense Ministry said Monday. The deadly firefight marked the first time Dutch forces have killed suspected pirates while patrolling the Gulf of Aden as part of an international anti-piracy flotilla. Marines from the frigate HMS Tromp opened fire on the pirates on the hijacked Iranian boat Sunday after they shot at two Dutch inflatable speedboats sent to investigate the fishing vessel, the ministry said. Ten suspected pirates were captured as they tried to flee in a high-speed skiff and six more were detained on the fishing boat. The bodies of two suspected pirates killed in the firefight also were recovered on the vessel. Dutch Defence Ministry spokeswoman Marloes Visser said the pirates, some of whom were wounded in the shooting, were being questioned on board the Tromp. The injured were receiving medical treatment, but it was unclear if the captives would be taken anywhere for trial. "It is not yet clear what will happen next. Prosecutors will have to decide," Visser told The Associated Press. Wim de Bruin of the national prosecutor's office said Monday he had no information on the case. Even as Dutch marines searched the Iranian dhow, another group of pirates approached, apparently intent on hijacking the boat, the Defense Ministry statement said. The crew of the Tromp fired warning shots to force the second group of pirates to flee. The dhow and its crew were allowed to sail away from the scene of the attacks after the Dutch intervention.After years of tentative action against pirates, the international armada sent to protect shipping in the gulf has become more assertive and willing to prosecute captured hijackers rather than let them go. Last month, the Indian navy attacked in self-defense a fishing boat, which had been used by pirates as a mothership. Sixty-one pirates were captured and were taken to Mumbai, India's financial capital, to be prosecuted. And in 2009, U.S. Navy SEAL sharpshooters killed three pirates who were holding the American captain of the Maersk Alabama ship. Last year, five Somalis were convicted of attacking a Dutch Antilles-flagged cargo ship with automatic weapons and a rocket-propelled grenade, in the first piracy case to come to trial in Europe in modern times. They are serving five-year prison sentences in a Dutch jail,

Five of 11 pirates who captured South Africans Debbie Maritz and Bruno Pellizzari were arrested by the Dutch Navy: however, the ANC regime refused to prosecute them in South Africa so the Dutch put them on trial in Rotterdam, The Netherlands:

Five more Somali men suspected of hijacking a South African yacht last year (and captured a South African couple during a firefight) also awaiting trial in a jail in the Netherlands. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700124190/Dutch-marines-kill-2-pirates-off-Somali-coast.html======================= Bruno Pelizzari and Deborah Calitz release pending: October 20 1011: "To SA yacht crew members said to be 'safe in Mogadishu after misunderstanding with Somali pirates with a religious agenda'. The two Afrikaner Christians were captured from the yacht Choizil since October 26 2010.The couple's capture was described by Peter Eldridge, skipper of the yacht, testifying to Dutch police.Jan 10 2011 - Peter Eldridge, skipper of the yacht Choizil, has described his ordeal at the hands of Somali pirates who seized his yacht and kidnapped his crewmates, Bruno Pelizzari and Deborah Calitz, to Dutch police and court officials. It has also been reported that the captured Durban couple, after a ‘misunderstanding with Somali pirates with a religious agenda’ , are said to be ‘safe’ in Mogadishu.The couple have no money. The skipper managed to escape with the help of Dutch Marines when his yacht was seized by Somali pirates but they dragged away his two hapless crewmates: two empoverished Afrikaners who had hitched a ride with him to get back to South Africa. Brono Pelizzari and Debarah Calitz were dressed only in their swim suits when they were captured.Pelizzari’s sister Vera said last night they had learned of the sentencing on Friday, but it did not change the fact that her brother and Deborah were still being held captive after nine months. Tanya Waterworth writes in the Cape Argus that the families issued the plea to the pirates holding them, al-Shabaab and All Somalia to "show humanity – release our family from this emotional famine that has been imposed on us.”

The desperate plea will be circulated in the Somali media on Monday. In the emotional plea for their return, Pelizzari highlighted the work being done by South Africa’s Gift of the Givers charity in the famine-stricken city of Mogadishu and its immediate surrounds.

“Every night we have heard on the news how South Africa, through the Gift of the Givers and the generosity of many South Africans, are assisting Somalia in its famine crisis and saving countless lives.

“These two South Africans are people of Africa and innocent of any offence to their brothers and sisters of Somalia.

“We ask the pirates holding them, al-Shabaab and all Somalia to show humanity – release our family from this emotional famine that has been imposed on us,” they said in their the plea. Deborah Calitz’s daughter, Kerri, said the families were hoping the media plea would help get her mother freed.

South African authorities refused to prosecute the five Somali pirates after their capture by the Dutch Navy:

Five of the twelve pirates were tried after they were captured by the Dutch navy. The South African authorities refused to prosecute them after the the Dutch navy rescued the South African skipper and his yacht and towed it to Richard's Bay harbour. The captain of the yacht, Peter Eldridge, submitted testimony to the Dutch authorities and the law courts about the cruel circumstances in which he and his two crew-members were attacked. Eldridge refused to leave his yacht and was rescued by the Dutch navy. The Dutch captured five of the pirates but others managed to drag away the two Afrikaner crew-members, Bruno Pelizzari and his life-partner Deborah Calitz. They have been in captivity ever since October 26, 2010, 'somewhere in Mogadishu'. In January this year, Peter Eldridge, skipper of the yacht Choizil, returned to South Africa after described his ordeal at the hands of Somali pirates to Dutch police and court officials.

It has also been reported that the captured Durban couple, both Christians, were nearly killed shortly after their capture - due to 'a ‘misunderstanding with Somali pirates with a religious agenda’ but that they were said to be ‘safe’ in Mogadishu since that time.

The South African authorities claim that they are 'negotiating for their release". The couple have no money for ransom and neither do their family. The most important thing now is to get Bruno and Debbie back safely,’ said SA yachtsman Peter Eldridge after testifying at the trial of five captured Somali pirates in The Netherlands, which led to their imprisonment on August 12 2011 in Rotterdam.He positively identified the accused men as being among the armed pirates who had hijacked the Choizil. “I then went before the magistrate and said virtually the same things, and was then asked questions by the lawyers.” He said that giving evidence there and knowing that some of the men had been arrested had not helped him in dealing with the trauma of the incident. “It is probably something I will never get over… The most important thing now is to get Bruno and Debbie back safely,” he said at the time. - The Mercury http://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/skipper-describes-hijacking-to-cops-1.1009939

South African international relations spokesman Saul Kgomotso Molobi: “kidnappers made no contact with South African government…’ (which has an embassy in Mogadishu).

According to Sail World’s purportedly 'well-placed source' in February this year a man named Andrew Mwangura in Kenya, and whose links with the piracy-industry in Somalia have in the past were said to be ‘extremely accurate’, the abducted couple Bruno Pelizzari and Debbie Calitz were moved to Mogadishu after their capture.

South African International Relations spokesman Saul Kgomotso Molobi said on 12 August 2011 that ‘the kidnappers had not made contact with the South African government nor with the relatives of Bruno Pelizzari and his partner, Deborah Calitz. 'They have not sent any ransom demands so we don't know what they want,' he said. However, Molobi said hope for the couple's safe return has not faded, as pirates sometimes took a long time to make ransom demands. 'We believe they are alive. “

HOW WERE THE PIRATES CAPTURED? The pirates were tried in Rotterdam the Netherlands after they were captured by the Dutch navy.

The South African authorities refused to prosecute them after the the Dutch navy rescued the South African skipper and his yacht and towed it to Richard's Bay harbour. The captain of the yacht, Peter Eldridge, submitted testimony to the Dutch authorities and the law courts about the cruel circumstances in which he and his two crew-members were attacked. Eldridge (tied himself to the ship) and refused to leave his yacht and was rescued by the Dutch navy.

The Dutch captured five of the pirates but others managed to drag away the two Afrikaner crew-members, Bruno Pelizzari and his life-partner Deborah Calitz. They have been in captivity ever since October 26, 2010, 'somewhere in Mogadishu'.

In January 2012, Peter Eldridge, skipper of the yacht Choizil, returned to South Africa after describing his ordeal at the hands of Somali pirates to Dutch police and court officials (in Rotterdam).

It has also been reported that the captured Durban couple, both Christians, were nearly killed shortly after their capture - due to 'a ‘misunderstanding with Somali pirates with a religious agenda’ but that they were said to be ‘safe’ in Mogadishu since that time. The South African authorities claim that they are 'negotiating for their release".

The couple have no money for ransom and neither do their family. All the presents that Bruno and Debbie had bought for family back home and their money were found. When they came back we repeatedly told them we didn’t have any money and that we were South African,' he said. The pirates stayed on the yacht while a mother ship carrying drums of fuel delivered food and tea to them.

The three South Africans were used as human shields by the muslims:

On November 7, the pirates holding Eldridge and the couple hostage on the yacht, spotted a French warship on the horizon. 'There were two boats. One was from Amsterdam. Their helicopters were hovering overhead. The pirates then began firing at the warship with their AK47s and launched rockets.' Eldridge was told to contact the French vessel. Eldridge was able to inform them over the radio that there were eight pirates on board. 'Afterwards, the pirates made us sit on the side of the yacht, facing the warship. They had guns to our heads,' he said.

The pirates motored the yacht until the motor seized and it ran aground on the Somali coast. The couple were forced ashore but Eldridge refused to leave. 'One of the pirates came back,' he said. 'He ripped the microphone from the radio and started beating me. I refused to go. I lodged myself so he couldn’t pull me out. He then discharged his weapon. I was uninjured. He then left.' Eldridge made contact with the warship again and was rescued. At time of writing, no contact has been established with the kidnapping pirates, and no ransom demand has so far been made. Plettenberg Bay/Sail-World Cruising http://www.sail-world.com/Cruising/international/I-would-have-gone-down-with-my-yacht.-Pirate-sailor-victim-tells/76978---------- Richards Bay yachtsman Peter Eldridge, owner of the yacht Choizil, was exhausted after returning from the Netherlands, where he was interviewed by police and court officials on his hijacking by Somali pirates near Tanzania on Oct 26 2010, reported Bronwyn Gerretsen. Mr Eldridge’s yacht was pirated on the high seas near Tanzania by AK47-wielding pirates on October 26. He, along with his crew, Durban couple Bruno Pelizzari and Deborah Calitz, were held hostage for 13 days before the yacht was run aground. Eldridge was left on the yacht after he refused to disembark, but Pelizzari and Ms Calitz were taken hostage. Five Somali pirates – among those who hijacked Eldridge – were arrested by the anti-piracy task force and put on trial in the Netherlands law courts.

Eldridge was returned to Richard’s Bay by a Dutch warship after his ordeal, and last week was flown to the Netherlands to testify. He was first interviewed by Dutch police, to whom he related details of the incident.

“The most important thing now is to get Bruno and Debbie back safely,’ said SA yachtsman Peter Eldridge after testifying at the trial of five captured Somali pirates in The Netherlands, which led to their imprisonment on August 12 2011 in Rotterdam.

He positively identified the accused men as being among the armed pirates who had hijacked the Choizil. “I then went before the magistrate and said virtually the same things, and was then asked questions by the lawyers.”

He said that giving evidence there and knowing that some of the men had been arrested had not helped him in dealing with the trauma of the incident.

South African International Relations spokesman Saul Kgomotso Molobi said yesterday that ‘the kidnappers had not made contact with the South African government nor with the relatives of Bruno Pelizzari and his partner, Deborah Calitz. 'They have not sent any ransom demands so we don't know what they want,' he said. However, Molobi said hope for the couple's safe return has not faded, as pirates sometimes took a long time to make ransom demands. 'We believe they are alive. South Africa has not interfered with Somalia by sending military to that country, so we are taking this as a good sign that hostages from South Africa will not be harmed. In one incident, pirates made a ransom demand four weeks after the kidnapping so there's no reason to lose hope.' http://www.sail-world.com/Cruising/international/Hope--for-kidnapped-South-African-cruising-sailors/77547- Eldridge’s account of couple’s capture:

In a blow by blow account of the traumatic hijacking off the Tanzanian coast on October 26, Peter Eldridge, 61, explained that he was prepared to sink his yacht, SY Choizil, if the pirates made it their 'mother ship' to rob other vessels. 'I had made peace that … if they were going to go ahead with their plan to make it their mother ship, I was prepared to sink with my yacht and the pirates,' he said. Eldridge refused to leave his yacht when the pirates took his crew hostage on November 7 2011. Eldridge, an experienced yachtsman, had lived on his yacht on the coast of Dar-es- Salaam for several years. 'I decided to sail to Richards Bay in November because it was a good time to sail. I approached Bruno and Debbie to be my crew and they agreed because this would allow them to visit their families back home,' Eldridge said at the Zululand Yacht Club. He said the issue of piracy was fully discussed in Dar-es-Salaam with the couple before they set sail in October. 'We believed that in the likely event of being attacked, we would be robbed and then the pirates would leave us,' he said.

On October 26, 160km from the Tanzanian coast, two motorboats pulled up on either side of the yacht. He was quickly able to send out a mayday signal. Twelve pirates, armed with AK47 guns and RPG rockets, boarded the yacht. 'Communication was poor but they demanded the satellite radio and any cellphones we had. They disconnected the fixed radio and removed it.' The three were held at gunpoint while the vessel was searched.

'All the presents that Bruno and Debbie had bought for family back home and their money were found. When they came back we repeatedly told them we didn’t have any money and that we were South African,' he said. The pirates stayed on the yacht while a mother-ship carrying drums of fuel delivered food and tea to them. On November 7, the pirates spotted a French warship on the horizon. 'There were two boats. One was from Amsterdam. Their helicopters were hovering overhead. The pirates then began firing at the warship with their AK47s and launched rockets.'

The term "genocide" was coined by legal scholar Raphael Lemkin in 1943, writing:

'Generally speaking, genocide does not necessarily mean the immediate destruction of a nation, except when accomplished by mass killings of all members of a nation. It is intended rather to signify a coordinated plan of different actionsaiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves.

The objectives of such a plan would be the disintegration of the political and social institutions, of culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic existence of national groups, and the destruction of personal security, liberty, health, dignity and lives of the members of such groups... '